John Tavares has been managing expectations and comparisons, making his own way as a hockey player, ever since he was the No. 1 draft pick.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself to turn this team round right away, but I expect us to become a winning franchise in the next couple of years,” Tavares said when he was selected. “I’m no Sidney Crosby or Bobby Orr. I’m John Tavares.”

Tavares did not say that in 2009, when the New York Islanders made him the NHL’s top pick. It was 2005, when he was 14 years old and taken first overall in the Ontario Hockey League’s draft. He was named the top rookie in the Canadian junior ranks at 15, CHL Player of the Year at 16 and a champion with Team Canada at the World Juniors at 17. The next year, Tavares was the MVP of the World Juniors and the first player taken in the NHL draft.

By that time, the center from Mississauga already was well known in the hockey world, and he was the Islanders’ leading scorer with 54 points as a rookie. That is part of the reason why, although he only turned 21 in September, it seems like Tavares has been around for much longer. The other reason is that, having lived a full third of his life in the spotlight, Tavares has grown up fast.

“You play against kids, then you play against grownups, against men that are 238 pounds and want to crush you,” Islanders captain Mark Streit said. “You’ve got moves that don’t work anymore in the NHL, and you’ve got to find new ones and work on your game. You realize that it’s a long way, and there’s a lot of pressure from the outside that you put on yourself—you’re first overall, you want to impress everybody, you want to help the guys, you want to live up to the expectations. He handled it perfectly, and this is a great organization for him.

"If a guy like that is in Toronto, his life is pretty much over. It’s hard. Here, it’s a bit more quiet, and you have that time to grow up as a player and a person. You can see the results now.”

The trajectory of Tavares’ career is clear enough. After scoring 24 goals with 30 assists as a rookie, he had 29 and 38 last season for a total of 67 points. This season, an All-Star for the first time, Tavares is one point shy of a one-per-game pace, with 24 goals and 34 assists through 59 games.

"It’s kind of scary to think he can get that much better than where he is now."

“Everywhere can always still get better,” Tavares told Sporting News. “You’re never perfect. Whether it’s a thing I’m good at or things that I need to work on. Understanding the game at this level and what it takes to win and be successful over an 82-game schedule, we’re still working toward getting to the playoffs and that’s something I need to keep getting better at. My consistency needs to get better, and I still need to work on everything, whether it’s my skating, getting stronger, or being better defensively, capitalizing on opportunities more often.”

That is not an offseason to-do list; it is a constant work in progress. As Tavares’ skating has improved, he has gone from drawing 0.8 penalties per 60 minutes as a rookie to 1.4 this season. Defensive progress is evident in Tavares’ advanced stats, though the fact that he only spends six seconds per game on the penalty kill is evidence of the work still to be done. Tavares’ goal total is a reflection of his strength and opportunism around the net.

“He’s been dynamic for them ever since he came into the league, and he can only go up from here as he matures and gets stronger and learns a few more things here and there,” said New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi, who went from rival to teammate at last month’s All-Star Game.

“It’s kind of scary to think he can get that much better than where he is now. He’s such a good player and so dynamic for that team. That’s kind of how their team’s been the last bunch of year—kind of young guys that are really talented, and they’re slowly getting better as those guys are getting older. I think he’s going to be a great player for them in the future.”

In the present, Tavares already is the face of the franchise on Long Island, and this season became part of the leadership group, wearing an “A” on his sweater for the first time in the NHL. The status reflects how the Islanders view Tavares, and he has lived up to the letter simply by continuing to be himself and setting an example with the way he approaches the game.

The Islanders are following along, Monday's 6-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators notwithstanding. On December 29, Tavares started a 12-game point streak, during which time New York went 8-4. Overall, the Islanders are 14-9-2 since that time, with Tavares contributing 13 goals and 18 assists in the 25 games. He has been a bellwether all season, with eight points during the Islanders' 3-1 start, then a stretch of 32 games during which he registered 19 points and his team lost 24 games.

Therein lies the other item on Tavares' improvement checklist: consistency. With the determination that he shows, there is every reason to believe that it is not a matter of if Tavares will develop into an MVP candidate, but when.

“Johnny’s a guy that’s really come into his own from a personality standpoint since I’ve been here and known him,” said Jack Capuano, who became the Islanders’ coach early last season after Scott Gordon was fired. “He’s a great team guy, a leader, he leads on and off the ice and he’s respected by his teammates and the organization. That’s what you look for in a leader, and there’s nobody that wants to win more than John Tavares.

"For us to have a guy like that leading our team, not only in scoring and points, but his work ethic, what he brings every day, is real important. That’s how we want all the guys to play.”